deportation to concentration camps at 1941/1942. The Synagogue of Gemünden was destroyed and burned in the Crystal Night at 1938 and soon afterwards was demolished. Politics Town council The town council's 23 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 March 2006: Note: Bürgerliste is a "citizens' list" rather than an actual party. Elections in March 2016 CDU: 9 seats SPD: 5 seats B.L.:9 seats Coat of arms Gemünden's civic coat of arms might heraldically be described thus: In argent a goat-headed spreadeagle sable armed and langued gules, under each wing a six-pointed star Or. The goat-headed spreadeagle is a common heraldic charge in civic heraldry in the Ziegenhains' former domain (see also Neukirchen's, Schwalmstadt's and Schwarzenborn's coats of arms; indeed, there is even another place in Hesse called Gemünden with a similar charge in its arms), and was taken from the Counts' arms. In 1261 there appeared a seal showing this composition surmounted by a city gate. This last charge was removed in the 14th century and since then, the town's arms have hardly changed. The stars may symbolize St. Mary's Monastery, another former local ruler in the Middle Ages. The stars have changed position several times over the ages, and the colours have changed – the creature was not always "armed and langued gules" (did not always have red claws and tongue) – but as they stand now, the arms match the oldest known seal. Town partnerships Elsbethen, Austria Illiers-Combray, France Sons and Daughters Konrad Dieterich (1575-1639), Protestant theologian Daniel Schleyermacher (1697-1765), Zionite in Wuppertal Adam Selbert (1893-1965), official, politician and journalist The theologian and Entrepreneur Family Scheibler References External links Waldeck-Frankenberg